Guys,
After watching AW this evening, doesn't Mull look the business to visit.
I've done a quick cost, based on this years prices !!!!
Ferry ... £47.50 per car return
Hotel ....@£60 per double room per night ( minimum stay 3 nights)
Loch side Hide .... £5 per day.
Not many places where you can observe Golden Eagles, Sea Eagles, Hen Harriers, Buzzards etc aswell as Otters in one day.
Would it not be an idea to try and organise a club trip up there next Autumn ?
Just an idea. would make one great 4/5 day trip out.
Eddie
Hi Eddie
I'd be up for it if the club organised a trip to Mull next Autumn.
I've been going to Mull most years for over a decade, usually in May or September. I've also chatted to other members of TBC who go sometimes two or three times a year. Somehow despite the popularity of the island it never seems crowded, and the sheer beauty of the place still stuns me.
Last year a friend and I stayed in a caravan in the north part of the island, and booked to view a nesting site for white tailed sea eagles. This was to make sure we got at least one definite siting during our stay. We then drove all over the island for the next couple of days, seeing all sorts mainly from the single track roads. At one point we watched a raven, sea eagle and golden eagle all appear over a cliff edge at the same time. We also saw what I still think is the most exciting British bird, a male hen harrier, appear over a hedge row then hunt for 20 minutes in a field next to the road. No otters on that trip, but I've seen them several times before. Mull is also good for divers, deer and although I've never done it you can go whale watching from Tobermory. On the last day it was pouring with rain, but we decided to go down the road directly in front of our caravan and watched another male hen harrier which we could probably have seen without leaving our accommodation.
Well worth a visit.
Hi Simon,
Hopefully your post will prompt the TBC to try and organise a trip.
If not, fingers crossed that my brother and I will have a bash in the Autumn next year.
Cheers Eddie
I presume that by "the club organising an outing" you mean that that some form of minibus carrying 6-10 members. Without doing too many sums this would be expensive to hire for several days to do Mull justice. There is nothing wrong with a group sharing one of their cars and setting off freelance as it it were. Also knowing Mull, even a minibus would not be my chosen vehicle for the island's roads. If you wish to gather a following, then advertise in thid Forum for takers. You do not need the club to organise it and it would certainly be cheaper that way too, per head.
Would definately like to visit mull with other interested parties from our area. If it happens make it the October school hols as we can't visit any other time as one of us works at a school. We usually go every year then anyway.
checkout www.begbits.blogspot.com and also see our own report from this October on www.laplandmull.blogspot.com
For those that do not want to stay on Mull, if you google "birdwatching on mull" you will find several people who offer day trips to see the birds, you get the 9am ferry as a foot passenger and they pick you up at the ferry take you round the sites, they know all the best places, and return you the the ferry late afternoon. It's about £35/£40 for the day.